


With Grace

by jedusaur



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-16
Updated: 2014-07-16
Packaged: 2018-02-09 02:54:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 600
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1966257
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jedusaur/pseuds/jedusaur
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"You're over thirty, right?" Tamika asks. "I need to find someone over thirty to interview for school."</p><p>They'll be pounding down the door, then. There aren't many people that old in Night Vale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	With Grace

"You're over thirty, right?" Tamika asks. "I need to find someone over thirty to interview for school."

They'll be pounding down the door, then. There aren't many people that old in Night Vale.

Josie shows the girl to the armchair in the living room and pours two cups of cyanide tea, one full-strength and one barely more than hot water. She lays them out on a little silver platter with a plate of vanilla wafers and brings it out to the coffee table, easing back into the couch with a sigh. Her back isn't what it used to be.

Tamika takes a sip of the tea and wrinkles her nose. "I can take more than that," she informs Josie. "My mama started building up my immunity when I was a baby. I bet I could drink yours."

Josie holds out her cup, eyebrows raised. Tamika almost looks like she's going to take it, but she backs down in the end. Smart girl. Josie's been wrong before--it's a talent of hers--but this kid might make it to twenty.

"So I'm supposed to ask you questions about what Night Vale used to be like and stuff." Tamika's tone makes it clear what she thinks of that. "But what I actually want to know is how did you survive this long? Do you have any special karate moves you could teach me? Or hidden bomb shelters? The regular bomb shelters don't look sturdy enough to me so I dug one for myself, but it doesn't have a door."

She's perched on the edge of her armchair, every part of her vibrating except her fixed gaze on Josie. Her body looks strong--only to be expected if her mother is the type to start cyanide exposure during infancy. She probably knows three martial arts and has all the official emergency contingency plans memorized.

"I don't think my secret will help you," says Josie.

Tamika smiles, all teeth and no warmth. "Try me."

"Darlin'," says Josie, "you've got to relax."

"I'm relaxed!" Tamika stops jiggling her leg. "I'm totally calm, tell me."

Josie shakes her head. It's not going to get through, she can tell already, but she gives it a try. "That's the secret, kiddo. Relax. Stop worrying about what's coming around the corner, 'cause the possibilities are too damn infinite to prepare for."

Tamika is still now, really still. Maybe she's not a lost cause, then. Josie's been wrong before.

"It's a dangerous world, right? Your mom tell you that?" Tamika nods. "Well, here's what I bet she didn't tell you: it's a beautiful world, too. And it's a random world, and you could die any second now--so could I, so could anyone. But if you start asking yourself _what is this, how does it work_ instead of _how do I hide from it_ , maybe you see something nobody else does. You take an extra second to breathe deep, maybe you can think straight when everyone else is running in circles. Maybe not, maybe you die, but I tell you what: I don't have a bomb shelter and I don't know karate, but I take a lot of deep breaths and I'm thirty-four years old. You take that or leave it."

Tamika digests this for a minute, sipping her tea. Then she says, "You want to learn some karate?"

Josie drains her cup and cracks her back. "Sure, honey."

And would you look at that, the child can smile all the way to her eyes after all. Josie's been wrong before, but she's thinking this girl might have a chance.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not feeling very strong right now, so I recruited some badass ladies to be strong for me. It made me feel lots better. I'll have to remember "channeling kickass women into fiction" as an emotional coping mechanism in the future.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [With Grace [Podfic]](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10340313) by [theleanansidhe](https://archiveofourown.org/users/theleanansidhe/pseuds/theleanansidhe)




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